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Bryan filed complaint with FBI

St. Johns County Commissioner Ken Bryan

St. Johns County Commissioner Ken Bryan said last week that a representative of the same pro-development "machine" that helped lure former County Commissioner Tom Manuel to accept bribes had, two years earlier, offered him tickets to a Jacksonville Jaguars game plus a limo ride to and from the stadium.

Bryan did not reveal that person's name, but said he declined the woman's offer and immediately filed a complaint with the FBI. After three years, the woman said she has yet to be contacted by the FBI.

"I knew this person and had seen her around," Bryan said. "Normally she wouldn't give me the time of day. The call came out of the blue."

Bryan's comment that the caller was a former member of the Planning and Zoning Agency meant that it could only be Cheryl Robitzsch, a civil engineer and officer in the St. Johns County Republican Party apparatus, who unsuccessfully ran for County Commissioner against Cyndi Stevenson for the District 1 commission seat.

Robitzsch said she called Bryan but said it was part of the marketing plan for Jones Edmunds, the engineering company where she worked at the time.

"We had supported his opponent, so we wanted to make amends," she said. "We check and make sure of the limits that individuals may accept for gifts and don't go beyond them. That happens every day in our business."

St. Johns County's ethics policy states: "Acceptance of gifts at any time, other than advertising novelties, is prohibited. Acceptance of entertainment also is prohibited. Employees must not become obligated to any suppliers and shall not conclude any county transaction from which they may personally benefit."

Ken Vogel, chief marketing manager of Jones Edmunds, said the company "has no knowledge of and has never sanctioned golf trips or limousine rides being offered" to public officials.

"(But) we occasionally invite an individual to attend a football game. This is never done to influence any pending issue but only to promote the name recognition of our firm," Vogel said.

"This is standard marketing practice throughout our, and other, industries. Our policy and our practice is at all times to conform to all statutes and regulations governing contact with public officers and employees," he added.

The incident came to light in Bryan's 2009 letter urging U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard to give Manuel house arrest rather than prison time. Bryan was the only county commissioner to write a letter in Manuel's behalf and said Manuel asked him to write one.

That letter said, "Unfortunately, Tom was up against a machine which was out to get him since Day One. He made a mistake and for that admitted his guilt. We believe that the crime Tom pled guilty to should not rise to the level of incarceration."

He also pointed to Manuel's deteriorating health and his small child and sick wife as reasons not to jail him.

So far, Bryan said he has not had any response from the FBI on his complaint.

Jeff Westcott of the FBI said he could provide no information about who submits complaints or whom they are about.

"We take all allegations of political corruption seriously and will look into them when we get them, but they are all confidential," Westcott said.

Several St. Johns County commissioners -- all off record -- have noted that they had been approached by a northeastern Florida political consultant who worked closely with Jacksonville developers and who had asked them if they'd like to go on quail hunting trips to Georgia, mainly with the developers of Nocatee.

One commissioner said the same individual once offered free tickets to the Florida-Georgia game.

All officials said they declined those offers, but none but Bryan reported them to the FBI.

"I hold ethics and honesty in the highest regard," Bryan said.

The Bryan call was never made public. It only came to light in late January, after Manuel was sentenced and a flood of documents relating to his case were suddenly available.

Bryan said the ticket offer was made even before he was sworn in.

"Even accepting it then would have been illegal," he said. "A small thing like that ... once they get a little foot in the door you've already violated the law. You can innocently get caught up in a situation."

Those who want to control or manipulate public officials will find weaknesses and exploit them, he said.

Manuel was initially disliked by the pro-growth community, but later was recorded accepting $60,000 of its money and agreeing to approve new development projects in St. Johns County.

"I meet with people in my office and I listen," Bryan said. "If I have any real issues, I have a staff to find out the facts. Sometimes people believe they can make a point in person that they can't at a County Commission meeting. As for Manuel, he's done. There isn't anything to do (for him). Even a sentence of being confined to home is not a party."